Simple Smile
by Ryoko-nee
Summary: There was never anything as beautiful as that smile or anything as warm as that coat.
1. When we were children

Title: Simple Smile  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: Everything owned by Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

Snow... Always cold and blinding, but because of it, spring shall come and something new shall bloom.

Yawning, Naruto woke from his sleep. Groggily getting up while rubbing his eyes, he moves into the washroom to get through his daily routine. Following is his milk and leftovers from the previous day. Feeling a bit more refreshed, he looks outside as he prepares his things to go to the Academy and notices it snowing. Sighing, he checks that he has all his equipment with him and touching his goggles, he heads out his house.

"Ino! Wake up now! You're going to be late, AGAIN!" Rolling over, Ino reads the time on her clock and rolls back over again. Then it clicked. "NOOOO!"

At the Academy, Naruto surprises everyone by reaching his seat early for once but promptly goes to sleep with his head on the desk. The others return to their previous activities not sparing him another glance. At quarter to nine, Iruka enters the classroom quieting the students and notices Naruto sleeping. Knowing the time of year, he let him off the hook but then the door at the back slammed open.

"I'M PRESENT! I'M NOT LATE!" Ino takes a huge gulp of air before seating herself beside her favourite 'Sasuke-kun!' and glaring at Sakura who along with everyone else tries their best to muffle their laughter.

"Ino, this is the third time this week, which means you've been late each day this week. Just because the holidays are tomorrow doesn't mean that you are allowed to be tardy."

"Sorry Iruka-sensei... No one at ho-"

"No excuses, now returning to our history..."

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"Bye bye! and Merry Christmas!"'s were chorused throughout the schoolyard as students left with their parents heading back home. Naruto had woken up when the fire alarm went off and as it was always, he was blamed even though he had been sleeping the entire time. He had become immune to the taunts and accusations for the past while or he forced himself to believe it though he was hurt. Of course, he'd never admit that out loud even if he were to become Hokage by saying it.

"Anou... Naruto-kun... M-Merry Christmas a-a-and have a-a-a Happy New Year..." came a quiet voice. Turning around, Naruto noticed Hyuuga Hinata behind him poking her fingers together in her nervous manner and bright red in face. Her head was bowed but he could imagine her eyes shifting about looking left and right. Giving her his biggest grin to hide his frown, he replied, "Aa! You too Hinata-chan! Hope you get everything you want this year!"

If it was possible for her face to become redder, it did. Then saying a quick thank you, she turned tail and headed in the direction of her father. Naruto just followed her with his eyes still in their fox-like look until she left the yard. Dropping the facade, he turned back to his swing, wiped the seat of the snow, and sat on it. Swinging to and fro lightly, he watched as all his other classmates left with their parents, smiling and telling them what they wished Santa Claus would bring them or what they wanted to eat that night or simply telling them how their day went. Trying his best not to envy them, Naruto thought about how he didn't have to worry about family get togethers and needing to buy things for other friends and family members since he didn't have much money to start out with. His monthly allowance from Sandaime gave him enough just to scrape by and it was hard to save any at all. He had seen Sasuke (teme!) leave with the first group of students but as usual, he seemed apathetic to the entire joy and celebratory feel the rest of the body of 'normal' people exuded. The last to leave, surprisingly, was Ino.

Ino was NOT having a good day. Waking up late (stupid mom not waking me up earlier and stupid clock!), forgetting to brush her hair, then arriving to class embarassing herself again, she was glad that the holidays were here. But at this moment, she was fuming. She was the last one in the entire school yard since her mother hadn't arrived yet. Looking around, she finally saw Naruto on his swing but he was swinging and looking up at the sky and that did not interest her in the least bit. It did however start her ranting mood.

"I'm the last one here with no one but the class idiot... Sheesh... I wonder where his parents are though... He's always here on his own. But it doesn't matter! 'Kaasan isn't here yet and augh! If she's gonna keep giving me the same excuse that she was busy at the flower shop or had met an old friend or met 'tousan on her way here, I'm gonna blow!" Either way, she still blew up. Yelling gibberish at the top of her lungs (and scaring Naruto in the process), she calmed down after a few minutes. The teachers had all come out and asked her what was wrong and receiving nothing but a heated glare, they figured it was just another 'Ino thing' as they so called it.

"Mou... talk about annoying teachers. Nosing their way into as many things as they can. Can't they tell that that was a private yell? Sheesh... but man, it's cold outside." Ino looked up and noticed that snow had been falling for a short while but she was too engrossed in her heated self-monologue to see it. Shivering a bit (since she was clad in her purple pants and shirt, and nothing else but bandages), she closed her eyes and promptly reopened them when she felt something warm wrap around her shoulders and warm her back.

Where her bare shoulders were, now there was something tattered, orange, and somewhat fuzzy (was that miso she could smell?). Scowling, since she realized that it was Naruto's (ugly!) jacket, she bent her head back but didn't see him. Looking back at the swing, it was empty. 'So now what? I owe him something? Sheesh... He really IS annoying! Mou, I have to get this back to him. I'd DIE if someone saw me in this.' She hurriedly shoved it into her bag but regretted the next moment as she shivered at double the rate than before. She was about to bring it back out again but she spotted her mom and forgetting about everything else, she ran over and started interrogating (in the most polite and civil manner possible according to Ino) her about where she had been and why she was late as usual. Her mother being sensible gave Ino her jacket that she forgot at home and then proceeded to explain to her why she was late (which happened to be the excuse of her seeing an old friend). As the pair left, neither of them saw or sensed the little boy that had been watching them from around the corner who too was shivering.

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"Christmas! Christmas! Christmaaaas!" trilled Ino as she raced down the stairs to her family's modest Christmas tree that stood in the back of the flower shop. Of course she never told anyone she still had some hope that Santa Claus was real since she was always sarcastic about it "oh yeah! He's real alright. Pshhh, yyy-erah! (cue eye roll)." She was disappointed with the gifts she received though, pair of gloves and a new headband (must be from 'kaasan), more bandages ('tousan... how original, always something practical right?), a letter of complaint (why in the world did Sakura give this to me if she always complains at school? It's not even a gift!), and a few little tidbits here and there. Nothing was really important to her and she sighed as she remembered that 'Sasuke-kun!' hadn't given her anything or even said a simple Merry Christmas. 'How hard is it to say that anyway? At least say it if you won't write it or something!'

In another house, another blond had yet to wake up, but he'd prefer if he didn't anyway. Nothing good ever came of this day. Sure he got training by running away from angry villagers, but he didn't even get time to plan any pranks so all in all, this day was already ruined for him. By the time he woke up (Ino was already eating breakfast), he sat in bed and didn't bother to move for the following ten minutes. Thinking was a habit that he was slowly starting to hate since it always brought up memories or something of that sort back up. Sighing, he made his way out of bed and did his morning routines. When dressing, he realized that he left his favourite jacket with that pig-headed girl the other day and sighed again. Yep, his day was already ruined. Having nothing else to do, and crossing his fingers that the other villagers weren't up yet, he decided to head out and visit 'oyaji' and Ayame-neechan to wish them a Merry Christmas and see if he could get by with a bowl of ramen since he ran out of it recently. Donning his usual gear (and a cleaner but slightly darker jacket), he left the house.

Absently walking about, Naruto looked about and stopped when he found a clear shot of the Hokage Mountain. Staring up at it, the stale fire rekindled itself, but his eyes were still dulled, following his emotions. A few minutes more and then he kept moving, remembering to go and visit Sandaime as well this day, assuming that he wasn't busy with his family too.

Ino was bored in her house. Her parents refused to wake up (having gone to bed extremely late, but Ino didn't know that) and so she decided to leave and go do something. What that something was, she wasn't sure. Whatever it was though, it had to be better than being here! 'Heck, even hanging out with Shikamaru would be better than staying cooped up here.' With that thought, she left her house and walked into the chilly weather of December before remembering that she needed a jacket. In the next few minutes, she was back out again but cursing herself for having forgotten something so basic as a jacket.

Not really moving in any direction, her feet took her to the memorial grounds. Here, she remembered to pass by her grandfather's and grandmother's grave for they had been killed during the Kyuubi attack. Ino wasn't sure about how she felt, but she realized after a few minutes that she had been crying. Quickly wiping away the tears, she wished the two of them a Merry Christmas and to have a Happy New Year. She also told them about how she was doing at the Academy not knowing whether they would have cared or not if they were still alive. She wasn't sure why she was crying either, she hadn't ever met the two, she only saw their photographs. Perhaps it's because there were just so many that died in the attack, or just because they were family to her. She loved her family to death and would die protecting them (which was one reason why her mother was always worried, not because Ino'd die protecting the family, but because Ino was now more exposed to being in that situation). Getting up from her kneeling position, she smiled and said that she'd come and visit more often. Sobered, she began walking away when she noticed Naruto in the distance. 'Who could ever miss that orange jacket anyway? Even the villagers notice it and glare at it.' Of course, she did not understand Naruto's predicament at that time and neither did Naruto as a matter of fact.

Naruto sensed someone coming and not wanting to talk to anyone just yet, began to speed up towards Ichiraku but halted when he heard the other say, "Stop!" He looked and found Ino running up to him but he really didn't want to talk so trying his hardest to throw her off, he smiled his fox smile and called out as loud as he could, "Oi! Ino! Merry Christmas!" Some of the villagers actually came out and started to yell at him saying that he woke them up, but then they started to yell at each other saying that they were too loud and eventually, they forgot that it was Naruto that they had yelled at first and were making a loud ruckus and missed Naruto and Ino running out of the general area.

"Mou Naruto, you really ARE an idiot! Yelling like that in the middle of a neighbourhood, don't you know that most people are dead asleep at this time of year!"

"Yeah, but what's it matter? You're out, right? Plus, it's so late in the day, almost noon now, so I think everyone should get up (grins)."

"BAKA!" and she proceeded to hit his head multiple times until he almost passed out. When she had calmed down (but Naruto was still nursing his head), she looked at him and again he gave her one of his biggest smiles. But as she studied him, him being nervous, had to ask what was wrong.

"Ne, Naruto..."

"Eh?"

"You... you seem, how do I put it... Really fake today..." Naruto stared at her unbelievingly wondering how he messed up his facade, but she continued. "You always smile like that in class, but you always close your eyes. I can never tell whether your smile reaches your eyes or not."

Naruto continued to stare at her until she felt uncomfortable and hit him once again on the head. "Itai! What was that for?"

"For staring at me and making me feel uncomfortable baka!"

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Naruto said, "Na, Ino, if you wanna go somewhere else, go ahead. I'm gonna go grab lunch now so I'll see ya later, 'kay?" Smiling again (with his eyes still closed as Ino noted), he left and went in the direction of Ichiraku once again with more vigor in his step (as he was trying to get away from Ino as quick as possible). When he was a good distance away, Ino recalled that she still had to give him back his jacket.

"Maa, I'll just give it to him another day. Like the first day of school or something like that. Right, I just need to remember."

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Snow, always snow. White, pure, cold, and well, shiny as he liked to put it. Which in a way is a bad thing, especially when one is running outside but keeps getting blinded wherever they go. Actually, that was happening to him right now as he was doing his best to outrun another ninja who randomly attacked him.

Naruto was at the moment in the Mist country doing a 'mini' solo mission for Godaime which started out as a C-rank mission 'how degrading Tsunade-baachan! For me? Jounin level doing that? Che... and you wonder why our forces are weakening' but as it is with Naruto, it managed to become an A-rank mission with missing-nins and even a few crude hunter-nins joining in. The mission was supposed to be simple. Retrieve a scroll from underneath the "Uzumaki Bridge" (oh how he loved that name, but sadly, Tazuna-san had died. Inari was left with his mom, but they were coping well and Inari had become quite the man since he had last seen him) and bring it back. The bridge was easy to find, but man it was long. Finding the scroll itself took a while (from dawn to dusk) since she didn't specify whether it was underwater, under the bridge posts, etc. Apparently though, this was one of the secret scrolls of the Mist (why they left it out was a complete mystery really) and so not only was Godaime looking for it, but missing-nins. Strangely enough, the Mist-nins didn't care, so that must have meant that it was planned between the Leaf and Mist, but missing-nins somehow managed to get info about the scroll and wanted it.

Back in real time, Naruto narrowly dodged another swipe at his face by a clawed hand and a kick to his abdomen from a foot by two other missing-nins and kept on running. Getting tired of it all, he formed a familiar hand formation and a multitude of Narutos seemed to have magically popped out of nowhere. His kage bunshins were to be used as distractions (as much as possible) and weapons if he needed it. Already quite a few were busy with his clones but he still had to keep moving around to get out of the way of the many attacks aimed at him. He was quite tired by the time dusk came around since he had literally been running nonstop, had created over 5000 bunshins by that time, but he was nearing Konoha which he was sure that he'd get some kind of help. He also knew the area best and was planning on which hideout to move to first to get some strength back and where to hide the scroll while resting. But first things first, 'tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu' and another 20 formed. Forming something akin to a semi-circle behind him, they readied themselves and at his command, they all blew up in a great explosion, hitting most of the missing-nins in the face and regretfully on Naruto's part, a couple hunter-nins. 'If only the hunter-nins were doing a better job at killing those missing-nins, it'd be like they're on my side. 'Course, they're after this scroll too. Geez, what's IN here Tsunade-baachan that's so important?'

Ino, Sakura, and Kiba who had been on patrol duty perked their ears up when they heard the explosion a fair distance away. Well, it was really Kiba who heard it, the other two girls were squabbling over another petty thing again which was their habit. This time, he thought it was something about face masks or something like that. Girls were just too much trouble at times, except Hinata. At that thought, he smiled like a giddy school girl and even laughed a bit scaring the crap out of Sakura and Ino. He got over it though in a couple seconds as he started to sniff the air and concentrated on the scent he was getting.

"Kiba, what is it?" inquired Sakura.

"It's... yeah, no doubt about it. It's Naruto. He's coming back from his mission and it seems like he's in trouble." Akamaru came to his side and barked a couple messages to his master and Kiba interpreted it for the two girls. "He's got about 13 nins after him, most of them strong and why the heck he's not fighting I don't know. But Akamaru and I can sense that he's tired. We should go help him. He's not that far now. About 100 kilometres away or so. We could reach him in a few minutes."

"But, what about patrolling? Plus, it's Naruto. I've known him for forever now, still annoying, but not that bad heh," Sakura said with a smile. "He'll be fine, I'm sure of it."

"Well I'm bored and I want to do something. I say we go help him anyway. What level do you think those nins are at?" asked Ino.

"Jounin level at least."

"Yeah, I say we go."

"But, patrolling..."

"I'm on it," said Ino. She went to the other wall, jumped down and quickly found two other sentry nins who happened to walk by and doing what she does best, she got them/forced them to go on patrolling duty for a short while and then the three left.

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Naruto was really beginning to get tired, he had actually stopped a short while before, but rather than resting, was desperately fighting off his attackers. His bunshin idea was way past overused and the only thing keeping him going was his reserved chakra. He was somewhat injured, but not badly thanks to Kyuubi's healing. But he could only hang on for so long. He was doing his best not to use the Kyuubi chakra since he did think of this a bit as a training session and tried to restrain his use against it (heck, he still believed it was a C-rank mission). Plus, it burned his body everytime he used it anyway. So why not save the pain as much as he could?

But when he was about to give up and start tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra, he sensed three others nearing and was relieved to find that it was Sakura's, Ino's, and Kiba's chakra signature. Anymore stupid nins and he was sure he'd have gone Kyuubi (as he has coined that term). Slowly sensing that the other missing-nins were being killed off or being knocked out, his vision began to unfocus itself and he was getting mixed signals from his five senses and stumbled till his back hit a tree. At this moment, one nin (from Grass) had found him and with his kunai, stabbed his heart. Or he would have had Naruto not moved enough and have the kunai stab him in his shoulder. He was beyond pissed now, tired, injured, and chakra depleted, Kyuubi's form festered itself round his body and he was animalistic. Clawing at the missing-nin, his or her throat was torn apart with one swipe and wasting no time, Naruto found all the others and killed them in quick movements and sometimes even with nothing but his chakra. The others freaked when he transformed, Kiba and Akamaru the most since they could smell something demonic and his power level seemed to have jumped from zilch to above scales of maybe even sennin-level (of course, Kiba has yet to experience the full power of any sennin since Tsunade was usually sleeping and all).

Sakura was stunned. Nothing else could describe her at that moment. It had been such a long time that she'd seen Naruto in that form. She knew of the Kyuubi contained within him, but it all seemed fake to her when she heard about it when he told her himself. She still regretted her reactions to it that day since she froze on the spot, wide-eyed, and according to Naruto (after they made up) accusatory. This was why she wasn't worried when she and the others were standing on guard at the gate about Naruto getting hurt, but she was glad that she still helped him in tiny ways when she couldn't help Sasuke-kun at all.

Ino's mind was reeling with assumptions when she saw Naruto. She remembered him and this chakra during the Chuunin Examination the first time round, but had completely forgotten about it after a few weeks since she became extremely busy in that time. Seeing him now, she thought that some sort of fire fox demon engulfed Naruto and was eating its way through the skin (and how close she was to the truth). At the sight, she recalled the Kyuubi as she had seen drawn in some old history book back at the Academy and suddenly remembered all the deaths on that day. Her grandparents included. Feeling nauseous, she fell to her knees and did nothing else but look upon the scene.

With the last missing-nin killed, Naruto dropped on top of that dead nin and passed out before he had closed his eyes. The hunter-nins came and took the heads of their prey though they had done squat, looked at the jinchuuriki and left quietly as if they had never been there. 'Good riddance,' thought both girls.

"Sakura!" shouted Kiba. "You'd better get your butt over here and start healing Naruto! He-" He stopped mid-sentence, seeing that the shoulder had almost stopped bleeding and was already beginning to close up. To watch it in real life after having heard the stories, Kiba could still hardly believe that it was true. The rate at which Naruto healed was... impossible!

"Hai, Kiba?"

"N-nothing..."

"Oi, let's get back. I need to wash out my hair again. Bah! Maybe we should have just stayed on guard duty."

"Nyah, that's what I said before, but of course, YOU didn't listen to me."

Ino hmphed and started making her way back, Sakura in tow.

"Oy... What is this? You leave the guy to carry the injured? Thanks girls..."

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Groaning, Naruto opened his eyes to see nothing but white again. 'Man,' he thought, 'I've seen this colour way too much. Oh, sorry, my bad... Tint or shade or.. oh whatever!' He ran his hand through his hair and noted thankfully that it was cleaned as was the rest of his body. Why he was in the hospital though, he could not understand. Sitting up, he got rid of the kinks in his body by doing a couple light stretches in bed.

"Good to see that you're up," said a girl drily.

"Yep, good to see that you're sarcastic as ever Ino," replied Naruto while still twisting about.

"I come to say hi, and that's how you answer me? I'm hurt."

"Now, now, I hate it when people lie to me so don't."

"Hey!" said an offended Ino, "I did come to visit you!"

"Oh, that's fine. Just the 'I'm hurt' thing bugged me."

"Riiiight... (Eyes rolled at this point)"

"Yeah, I know I am."

"Urusei!" and as if it were deja-vu, Ino hit Naruto on the head.

"ITAI! What's with you girls and hitting people?"

"Baka, you brought it on yourself."

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"DID NOT! AND THAT'S FINAL!"

"Sheesh, don't get all hissy fit on me.

Naruto silently stewed in his anger as Ino placed her flowers by his bed table which he then noticed. They were not a terribly bright orange as he'd have liked, but they were orange nonetheless or something like orange. They were desert mariposa lilies and in the middle, there was a daisy. 'That's kind of random,' thought Naruto, 'but ah well. Wait... is she the first to ever give me flowers? I don't recall Sakura ever doing that... It was always for 'Sasuke-kun! Love me because I bring you flowers!' Bah! Traitor...'

As a side note, Sasuke had returned to Konoha after Sound had been defeated by the alliance of the Leaf and Sand. Naruto had been able to convince Gaara, his long time friend, to help them out and also to help strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Sasuke had returned, but only because there was nowhere else that he could go (believe it or not) and after having apologized (though it was difficult for many not to kill him right then and there at the council), was not reaccepted back into Konoha, but was accepted at the moment under the status of refugee. Many found it hard to accept him as he was the one who lead the attack against Konoha during that war, but it seemed no matter what, many others still accepted him and wanted him back under Konoha citizenship since he was 'the last Uchiha' or 'he was misguided' or something of that idiocy.

Back in the hospital, Ino studied Naruto's face again as he stared at the flowers and took in all the slightest changes his face like how his eyebrows raised or how his mouth tilted down when he frowned and again, his eyes that spoke so much about him, how they sparkled or darkened when he remembered something. Details like that. She wasn't sure how long she looked at him, but gathering herself just before Naruto noticed, she said that she had to go and visit Chouji who also came back from a recent mission, but had lost too much weight and that was his reason for him being in the hospital. Naruto nodded, not yet looking at her, but when his eyes fell on hers and said thanks, he smiled at her. A simple, genuine smile, and one that she would never forget even if she wanted to. His eyes, she said to herself, were open this time.

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	2. Now that we're older

Title: Simple Smile  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: Everything owned by Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

That afternoon, Naruto was permitted to leave the hospital, handed the scroll to Tsunade when she came to visit him, found out that Sakura and Kiba only had minor scratches and were fine, and went home. No one on the streets could help staring at him though, but they stared moreso at the bouquet of flowers he held in his hands. The daisy did seem oddly placed but most simply stared out of shock that he received something from someone. No one ever gave him anything. No one. It was like a forbidden rule to do something so... so caring to a demon spawn like him.

As usual, Naruto ignored the glares and headed straight home. Well, passed by Ichiraku, ate his lunch, and then kept going.

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"Ja, Chouji. Take care ne? I'll bring you a few more snacks next time I come 'round and I'd better see all those chip bags empty!"

"Hai, hai Ino-taichou!" Chouji smiled and mock-saluted her as she left, scowling at him.

Ino found Shikamaru just outside the room, greeted one another and kept going since he wanted to go in and had just arrived. While walking out, she overheard some nurses chittering about some kind of 'demon child' but had become a 'masculine demon man' or something stupid like that. 'Che, fangirls... Idiots, the whole lot of 'em. Sucks to have been one though...' for she too knew that she had been a part of the Uchiha Sasuke fanclub long before but had stopped during the time around the Chuunin Examination. The rest was all for play, but she had to admit that she was actually quite bitter at his betrayal to Konoha. That was something that she'd never forget, forgive? Perhaps, but not anytime soon.

As she had promised long ago on that Christmas day, she passed again by the memorial grounds having kept a couple flowers close to her and placed them above her grandparents' tombstones. Half an hour passed and she slowly got up and headed back home.

Since Christmas was only a week away, she was given a week's break from missions. She had already planned to meet up with the Rookie Nine sometime, hopefully at the party Sakura was planning. That, and to clean out her closet! It was ages since it was fully cleared out and she was a tad worried about finding moths living in her clothes. Running upstairs, she opened the closet and set to work.

Five hours into the cleaning (it was night by then and dinner had already been served), she stumbled upon a bag with something heavy inside. Taking a peek, she saw nothing but an orange jacket. Immediately recognizing that it was Naruto's, she couldn't remember why she had it. She shrugged, put the bag aside, and kept on working and eventually, after midnight, her entire room had been cleaned and reorganized again. When she turned the lights off, the last thing that came to mind was the jacket but she still couldn't remember why she had it.

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"Shikamaru! Chouji! Ino-bata! (Oi big forehead! What is it?)" Sakura scrunched her face at her old nickname, but caught up to the trio to tell them the details of the party. It was to be held at her house this time round, but she warned them not to bring any liquor or alcohol of any sort since her boyfriend was going to be there (Lee of course) and they all had either seen or heard of the tales of the Drunken Fist Technique and they all paid heed to her words. Agreeing to come, Sakura went off again in search of the other Rookie Nine, but had decided not to tell Sasuke-kun since no one would have felt comfortable with him around. Most specifically, Naruto. Mentioning him, she had been looking for him the past few days but had not even spotted a hair of him around. Wondering why he was so secretive lately, she kept pushing on and eventually stumbled upon Tenten and Neji and invited them anyway. They were close friends with some of the Rookie Nine (Eight if you don't count Sasuke).

Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji had afterwards left to go to their barbecue restaurant. Passing near Ichiraku, Chouji wanted to drop in just to wish the cook and his daughter a Merry Christmas even though they didn't plan to eat there. Rude perhaps? But he was sure that the two would appreciate it since they were all on first name basis by then as he was their second most frequent customer lately. Shikamaru was the one who noticed Naruto sitting by himself as the other two went and greeted the cooks. Being lazy though, he didn't say a thing but when Ino saw Naruto, she went over and told the other two that she'd meet them at the restaurant. They both raised an eyebrow, but went along but not without saying a greeting to Naruto who said the same to them. He returned to his ramen without sparing another glance at Ino.

She, who by this time, was beginning to get annoyed with him for absolutely no reason, struck up a mini-conversation. She just felt like she needed to talk to him. So after having just met Sakura, she asked, "You going to the party? Or did Sakura not find you yet?"

"Party? (slurp) Sakura? What?"

"Sheesh, you really are out of it. You know how we have a party every year for Christmas and New Y-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know that, I'm not a complete idiot," and adding quickly before Ino could say anything, "it's just that I don't think I'm gonna go this year."

"What? Why?" asked a bewildered Ino.

"I'm... just not up to it this year." Naruto was slightly agitated when saying this, but Ino didn't noticed and kept asking him questions.

"Is it because of Sasuke?" and then she realized that she had stepped into private territory. "Ah, nevermind, no wait! But seriously, why not?"

Naruto was trying to reign in his anger, but was not one hundred percent successful. "Look, like I said, I'm not up to it, I'm not ready for it, and it's not like I really like the parties anyway. Got it?" He abruptly got up, slammed down some money on the table top and hurriedly left. Ino couldn't help but look at his retreating back and even after a few minutes, she kept staring at the same spot where he left. Shaking her head, she apologized to the cook and left Ichiraku to find her friends back at the barbecue place.

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Back in her room, she lay in bed staring at the ceiling and wondering why she was still thinking about him of all people. It's not like she knew him well. Heck, she only knew his name, rank, and his obsession with orange. Oh, and his birthday since it was on the same day as the Kyuubi Attack. Other than that, no, she didn't really know him at all. Wait! His birthday's on the same day as the Kyuubi Attack, and a memory suddenly resurfaced itself.

_"I'm the last one here with no one but the class idiot... Sheesh... I wonder where his parents are though... He's always here on his own. But it doesn't matter! 'Kaasan isn't here yet and augh! If she's gonna keep giving me the same excuse that she was busy at the flower shop or had met an old friend or had met 'tousan on her way here, I'm gonna blow!"_

She remembered how back then, when they were only 10 and still at the Academy, how she had said that on the exact same day as today. Then two memories were brought forth.

_Ino looked up and noticed that snow had been falling for a short while but she was too engrossed in her heated self-monologue to see it. Shivering a bit (since she was clad in her purple pants and shirt, and nothing else but bandages), she closed her eyes and promptly reopened them when she felt something warm wrap around her shoulders and warm her back. _

_Where her bare shoulders were, now there was something tattered, orange, and somewhat fuzzy (was that miso she could smell?). Scowling, since she realized that it was Naruto's (ugly!) jacket, she bent her head back but didn't see him. Looking back at the swing, it was empty. 'So now what? I owe him something? Sheesh... He really IS annoying! Mou, I have to get this back to him. I'd DIE if someone saw me in this.'_

_Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Naruto said, "Na, Ino, if you wanna go somewhere else, go ahead. I'm gonna go grab lunch now so I'll see ya later, 'kay?" Smiling again (with his eyes still closed as Ino noted), he left and went in the direction of Ichiraku once again with more vigor in his step (as he was trying to get away from Ino as quick as possible). When he was a good distance away, Ino recalled that she still had to give him back his jacket._

_"Maa, I'll just give it to him another day. Like the first day of school or something like that. Right, I just need to remember."_

Ino sat up in her bed and gasped. Looking to one corner of her room (where everything placed there was always neglected), she saw the bag with the coat inside. So that was why she still had it.

Obviously, the following day after she had the jacket from Naruto back at the Academy, she dumped it in her closet trying to hide it from her parents so they wouldn't ask questions. She of course, left it there forgotten until a few days ago when it was rediscovered (and thankfully without moth balls or live moths living off it).

Then there was the question of Naruto and his parents. Being born on the same day, Ino could understand if his father was killed in action, but his mother too? Unless she died giving birth to him or either parent never came for him after school or he was neglected or... The possibilities kept rushing into her head, but she shook herself to rid her of the thoughts since those were things for him to deal with. She couldn't do squat even if she wanted to. 'Hey wait! This is perfect! I can get him to go to the party by saying that I have something to return to him! Haha!' Ino smiled at her short term goal and got up again with renewed energy and got ready to head out to find the sunshine-haired boy.

At the Hokage Mountain, Naruto was paying his respects to all four, but especially to Sandaime and Yondaime. He told Sandaime of how well Konohamaru was growing up and had made chuunin on his first try along with Moegi-chan and Udon-kun. He also told him of how he was doing, and turning to Yondaime, he simply said, "Thank you, for everything. I've learned to endure the pain, and I might be a bit bitter, but still, I say thanks for having protected Konoha in the end to the best of your abilities. And I'm tellin' ya! I'm gonna be the next Hokage and (now he said this to all five faces on the mountain including Tsunade-baachan) I'm gonna be the best one out of you all!" Grinning despite himself, he bowed his head in respect and left. Had he turned around, he might have felt as though the eyes of the Yondaime, filled with love and compassion, follow his movements away from the mountain.

Ino had run to and fro and had already made about fifteen mistakes thinking that that spot or patch of yellow was Naruto's hair. That was also done in the past half hour. For the next half hour, she nearly gave up until she found herself back at her grandparents' grave. Kneeling down, as it had become a habit for her, she placed one hand on each tombstone and wished them both a Merry Christmas and promised to come back to visit on New Years. For some strange reason, she began telling them the story about her broken and rekindled friendship with Sakura not knowing why. She felt she needed to say something to the two and not her usual 'my day went well, my team's doing fine' type of speech that she'd done too often before. The story took a short while and when she was done, she wiped her tears and wished them again a Merry Christmas. She turned around and finally noticed that Naruto was a short distance away from her and had been watching her. Her eyes filled with surprise and she felt ashamed that she was crying in front of him and her hands quickly flew up to wipe away the tears.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have intruded." He started to leave but was stopped when Ino called out to him.

"Matte!" He looked back and he waited till she had composed herself. "I have something that I need to return to you, but I don't have it with me right now. Just come to the party at Sakura's, it's on Christmas Eve, and I'll return it to you then. If you don't come, then you probably won't get it back again unless we're old and senile and I somehow manage to remember to give it back 'kay?" She sniffled but waited for his response.

Naruto having no clue what she was talking about, looked at her before taking her word and nodded as his form of agreement. Ino smiled which surprised Naruto greatly, and she walked past him saying, "Well then, see you!" She went home and Naruto stood rooted in his position for the next while still in shock at seeing Ino's smile. It was nothing short of beautiful.

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The day had come and Ino had remembered to bring the bag with her right after taking her first step out the house. Cursing again to herself for her poor memory, she set out again in the direction of Sakura's house. Having gone there many times before, especially when she was younger, she let her mind wander as her feet guided her there. She thought about how much everyone had changed. Hinata and Kiba were together ('a good pair!' she thought) and Hinata herself was feeling a bit more selfconfident over the past couple years and she was sure that it was Kiba's doing. Kiba himself had changed to become a bit more mature, note, she said a bit. He was still capable of acting as an idiot on command when he wanted to, but Akamaru on the other hand had grown and had become quite large. At times, his size itself was enough to make the enemies anxious and cautious. Shino had become a rather mysterious man and so that fit in with the rest of his clan. He too had grown up and become strong. His knowledge on insects and even plants had grown tremendously, but being a part of the Aburame clan, he was still single.

Her own teammates had changed and so had she. Shikamaru was perhaps the only one who changed the most but in such small increments that it seemed as though there never was any growth or improvement on his part. Being the smartest out of them all, he had lead many missions even when he was only a chuunin leading whole teams of jounins about. He had failed only once ever since he became a chuunin, and that was with the whole Get Back Sasuke Fiasco. All other missions had been a success. She wasn't sure still, but she was ninety-nine percent sure that he was seeing Temari from Sunagakure and she silently rooted him on. She couldn't reveal that secret yet to him but he was suspicious of her already. She couldn't help but be curious since she had come to think of him as a brother. Him and Chouji really, were like her second family. Chouji had grown much too, and not just at the belt line. He was shaping up to be a proud member of the Akimichi Clan and though the red soldier pill was still dangerous, he had developed another pill, alongside Shikamaru and Shino who understood plant properties, a pill that was similar but less dangerous, but not as potent either. It was still stronger than the yellow pill though and the trio were still working hard at it since Chouji never wanted another to be in the same position as him back when he was still a genin fighting Jiroubou. He was still single as well.

Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji were three people that she didn't know all too well, Lee a bit better than the other two since he was Sakura's boyfriend. What she did know was that Neji's and Tenten's attitudes had changed drastically after having been around Naruto, even afer the first Chuunin Examination. Neji wasn't all 'holier than thou' anymore, and wasn't constantly blabbing about how people's destinies were already planned out and all that. He had grown into a fine man though, she had to admit, and was seeing Tenten. Or so she assumed. Tenten on the other hand, had mastered other techniques and was now proficient at genjutsu of all things along with her weapon combat. Lee, well... Lee's training helped him improve a lot over time and is as strong as ever. Except after his fight with Gaara, he was not permitted to gain jounin level since Godaime was worried about him and his condition and the stress of being at the jounin level. Lee nevertheless accepted this without (much) regret and had become an instructor for a new group of fledgling genins. He was the first to become a teacher out of all their friends.

Team VII had changed the most. Sakura was as said, dating Lee and has been the happiest she could have been for the longest time. She had tied as second best in the medic-nin world with Hinata and her genjutsu was still the best amongst all twelve ninjas. Her taijutsu had also grown exponentially (and quite literally) while training under Godaime. Her ninjutsu could still use some work, but in battle, everyone knew that they could leave Sakura alone and know that she would come out of it with at most a scratch that would have already started healing.

Sasuke... Ino wasn't sure about what she thought about him anymore. She had calmed down over the years, but if she were to see his face, she wasn't sure what she would do; cry, yell, scream, rant for all she knew. To her, he was a traitor, and though he was misguided, it still didn't justify his actions in her point of view. He was currently single, and she sort of wished or cursed, depending on which side you're on, that he never find a wife to ''rebuild'' his clan with. Another Uchiha and the village was doomed.

Naruto himself, she wasn't sure either. She knew that he had grown in all areas for a ninja, though his genjutsu and chakra control could still use some work as she had seen on previous missions when they were together. But those missions only lasted a short while and so she never really got to know him as well. Lately though, she'd been having strange feelings towards him, but she brushed it aside.

Clutching the bag tighter, her thoughts landed upon herself and she found that she too had grown quite a bit. Sure, she was still a nitpicky person when it came to hygiene and appearance, but she wasn't as concerned about it as she was in the past. Heck, she'd gone days without showers and hadn't complained (though she really would have liked to) during her missions. 'I'm such a devoted kunoichi, kyaaaa.'

Looking up, she noticed that she had arrived at the door of Sakura's house and had already rung the bell. Snapping herself out of her daze, the door opened revealing Sakura in a very festive Santa Claus suit (minus the tummy bulge) and found the others inside as well. The only ones missing were Naruto and Sasuke, and she crossed her fingers hoping that the latter wouldn't show. She noted that in the corner stood Kankurou and Gaara and she was mildly surprised, but not completely. It was nice knowing that the Kazekage was friends with their beloved Naruto, but at the same time, having the Sand Trio at the party seemed a bit strange.

------------------------------------------------

"Che, Ino, stop already. You've had almost two punch bowls to yourself, not to mention that Kiba had already spiked them both when you got here," drawled Shikamaru (the ever caring one).

"Demo, (hic), Shika-chan, it's so good! Tee hee!" chuckled a drunk Ino. She hadn't even known why she started to drink the punch even when she knew it was spiked. Well, okay, she did. One, she knew that no one would be dumb enough to get her upstairs with someone else and go at it since everyone was busy with someone else or a sibling to her or had no relationship with her whatsoever or... you get the point. Two, it tasted good and so without realizing it, she had already drunk five cups (it was lightly spiked) of the punch.

Shikamaru left her to her own devices saying that it was too troublesome to take care of girls until he found Temari standing in front of him with her arms akimbo. In his mind, he repeated the same phrase but on the outside, he forced himself to smile and tell her to go watch something on the television with him.

It was around 11:30 when Naruto finally decided to show up. Everyone was a little annoyed with him, but didn't really care as much as they thought they would have. He'd done that before on previous years so it wasn't that big a surprise when he did it this time 'round. By this time, however, everyone was already a bit tizzy with the punch and already a few of the couples were making out on the couch in front of the rest of the people.

While most people stayed in the living room or family room, Ino stayed in the dining hall where the punch and food was. Noticing Naruto when he poked his head through, she motioned him to come over. Somewhat apprehensive, he walked up to her and helped her get into a chair before asking her his question.

"So what did you want to return?"

"Oh, (hic) hehe! Oh yeah, that thingy thing.. thing..."

"Yeah, what's the thingy thing?"

"Tee hee! Bag! In the bag!" said Ino drunkily. She was having so much fun without knowing why. Naruto's hair seemed to shine in a halo on top of his head when he stood with the light right behind his head. It looked really soft to her and she had the urge to touch it, but stopped herself in time.

"What bag? Where?"

"Over there silly! (hic!) Wow, you must be blinder than a bat!"

Raising his eyebrow, he followed her finger where she indeed pointed to a bag sitting by a closet and lonely looking. He went over and picked it up, opening it, he was stunned for at least ten seconds. It was his favourite jacket! Or at least it was back when he was younger. Now, he'd be lucky enough if the arms even reached any farther than past his elbows. He looked back at Ino who had stood up and was walking towards him. With a calm face, he waited for her to say something which she did.

"I was cleaning out my (hic) closet when I found it. I remembered that time a long time ago when I was cold and you (hic) put that around me to keep me warm even though you only had a t-shirt on. (hic) I jus' wanna say thanks for that time hehe (hic)" Even with her hiccups, Ino seemed to have magically sobered down.

"Uh, y-you're welcome?" said Naruto with his eyebrow raised.

Their faces had already come close together and then it could have been because of the alcohol or her muddled thoughts, but without any notice, Ino closed the gap and gave him her first kiss. It was short and sweet, but Ino was also the one who pulled away quickly. Her eyes seemed to have widened and she seemed to have some sense and bearing of where she was, who she was, and what she had just done. Looking at Naruto who had yet to move, she couldn't help but be afraid. She bowed her head down quickly so that he wouldn't see her face, said a quick ''I'm sorry.'' and hurriedly left the room, out the house, and into the cold streets.

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Ino had run out and let her feet carry her wherever they wished which happened to be to her grandparents' memorial. She didn't want to 'disturb' them with her troubles, so she made up her mind and headed towards a bridge she went to with her father when she was younger and when her father had time. It happened to be the bridge that Team VII met on when they were younger and were genins. She leaned back against the railing and began to shiver noticing that yet again, she forgot to bring something like a jacket to keep her warm. She didn't want to move though, and it was then that she realized that her face was wet with tears.

Wiping them away in a frustrated manner, she asked herself, 'Why am I crying? What did I do? Do I really care that much? But why?' "WHY?" she yelled. Shaking and crying at the same time, it took her a while to realize that she wasn't shivering anymore. She looked to her shoulders and there instead of her purple shirt, was another long black coat with orange markings around it. Fully turning around this time, and not simply bending her head back, Ino noticed Naruto watching her intently. Embarassed, she put her head back down and turned away from him so that he couldn't see her tears, though it was already too late.

Feeling arms surround her, she couldn't help but bring her head up and look up at his face. His eyes were momentarily closed, but when they opened, there was nothing but love shining though.

"You didn't let me say thank you."

"F-f-for what?" she stuttered.

"My favourite jacket, and for my second kiss."

It was all she could do but stare at him in shock. At this time, he was the one who initiated the next kiss which was followed by many other short ones leaving Ino and him breathless. When they pulled apart, Naruto was hugging Ino close to him and he leaned his forehead against hers. A light smile ghosted over both their lips as they savoured each other's warmth. Ino giggled a bit and Naruto asked what was so funny.

"It's just, I've been keeping your favourite coat for so long. I'm surprised you didn't freak out at me throughout all the years that I've had it."

"True, I just figured that I'd somehow get it back after all these years and that it'd come back in due time."

"Indeed it did." Ino smiled at Naruto and again Naruto thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "Demo, why didn't you just ask it back anyway?"

"Heh, 'cause I was sure you'd yell at me or accuse me or something like that saying that I set you up or something dumb like that."

"Hey, I don't do dumb things."

"Yeah, you do."

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"DO NOT AND THAT'S FINAL!"

"Man, and you said that I was having a hissy fit back at the hospital?"

Laughing together while holding each other in their arms, they had never felt so happy or so warm. Until now.

"Ne, Naruto?"

"Hmm...?"

"Merry Christmas... a-and..." she stuttered off.

"Heh, Merry Christmas Ino-chan, and I love you." Ino looked up at him smiling and she smiled back.

"I love you too Naru-kun, and promise me forever that you'll smile your simple smile the way you do now."

"That, I promise you."

Fin  
A.N.: Kya, story popped into my mind when I was playing my violin. It was around Christmas and I just imagined about how Naruto would have felt during that time as a kid and when he got older. NaruIno pairing is kinda cool to me so I tried putting them together and I think it worked. - Man, I'm just about to give up on html for this story... Taking forever to make it work.


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